Total 3 Senior Executive level Maintenance / Repair job vacancies in Darlington, County Durham

Senior Research Technician

The School of Earth and Environmental Sciences is seeking to appoint an enthusiastic and experienced technician to cover a period of maternity leave for 12 months, predominantly to support our Palaeoclimate, Image and Geochemistry research laboratories.

You will be responsible for:
the operational management of these research lab areas- carrying out lab inductions, training staff and students in technical and clean lab procedures, maintaining stock levels, servicing, and operating analytical equipment; overseeing lab safety, assessing risk, and encouraging sustainable lab practices.
carrying out analytical work to support academic researchers, e.g. conducting palaeoclimate multi-proxy analysis using light microscopy (preparing ocean sediment samples for stable isotope and trace metal analysis), Coulter Counter (for grain size analysis) and maintaining data and archive records.
Experience in working in a research laboratory is essential.

The successful candidate will also work as part of a friendly and supportive team of technicians, supporting the wider Schools Research Facilities, carrying out PAT testing, Legionella control and safety inspections. We will provide any relevant training and support that you may require.

As the biggest university in Wales – and a major employer, with more than 7,000 staff – we are an ambitious and innovative university located in a beautiful and thriving capital city. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits. The post will be based in the University Main Building.

This is a full-time position (35 hours per week), fixed term for a period of 12 months, available from September 2024.

Salary: £26,444 - £29,605 per annum, pro-rata (Grade 4). It is not expected to appoint above the first point of the scale Grade 4.18, £26,444 per annum.

For informal enquiries, please contact Lindsey Owen, Earth Technical Manager, email: owenl5@cardiff.ac.uk

For further details about working in Cardiff University please contact Claudia Pena Becerra, email: earthhr@cardiff.ac.uk

More information on the School can be found at School of Earth and Environmental Sciences - Cardiff University

Important Notes:

Applications can only be accepted via the online system.

Date advert posted: 15 August 2024
Closing Date: 5 September 2024

This post has previously been advertised to employees of Cardiff University only. We now invite external applications.

Please be aware that Cardiff University reserves the right to close this vacancy early should sufficient applications be received.

Cardiff University is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to creating an inclusive working environment. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from many different backgrounds. We therefore welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

Applications may be submitted in Welsh, and an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.

It is the University’s policy to use the person specification as a key tool for short-listing. Candidates should evidence that they meet ALL of the essential criteria as well as, where relevant, the desirable. As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide this evidence via a supporting statement. Please ensure that the evidence you are providing corresponds with the numbered criteria outlined below. Your application will be considered based on the information you provide under each element.

When attaching the supporting statement to your application profile, please ensure that you name it with the vacancy reference number.

The Role and the Department     

A laboratory technician post (Grade 6) is available for 2 years (full time, but with the option for flexible working hours) in the laboratory of Professor Keith Lindsey, Department of Biosciences, Durham University to work on a multidisciplinary industrial biotechnology and bioengineering project on environmental processing and recovery of metals.

The world in 2040 is expected to need 4 times as many critical minerals/metals for clean energy technologies as it does today. To achieve this goal, it is clear that environmental processing and recovery of minerals and metals will play a critical strategic role not only in sustainable resource management but also in waste reduction, pollution prevention, and the transition towards a more circular and environmentally conscious economy. This project unites specialists from across the UK who possess knowledge in essential technologies related to bio-extraction and bio-recovery of metals. We will collaborate to establish an open knowledge Hub aimed at enhancing ongoing projects of engineered organisms at various technology readiness levels that tackle important environmental issues associated with mineral extraction, urban mining, industrial waste, and legacy nuclear waste. The Engineering Biology Hub aims to provide a powerful suite of engineering biology tools and approaches that represent sustainable and efficient solutions to address many of the environmental challenges concerning metal waste and metal-scarcity.

The technician will support this project through the functional characterization of bacterially biorecovered copper nanoparticles (CuNPs). Bio-synthesised CuNPs represent a potential application of biorecovery, as part of a circular economy approach to reduce the need for newly extracted copper and chemical processes for NP synthesis. We will 1) test the ability of biosynthesised CuNPs (using Shewanella oneidensis) to replicate the effects of chemically synthesised CuNPs on plant root growth (a bioassay for CuNP functionality), and 2) use CuNPs from engineered S. oneidensis, optimised for NP production. This £12 M project, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, links with a second large project with the water industry, to develop methodologies to prevent tree root ingress into built structures, and the successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with team members both within Durham and also in other participating UK Universities.

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The Role and the Department  

The post holder will be responsible for assisting with the day-to-day technical functions and operations in the Physics Department, providing technical and engineering related assistance throughout a large, busy and diverse selection of research laboratories, thereby ensuring smooth and efficient operation throughout the area.

The post holder will be required to exercise an acquired depth of knowledge and experience to provide flexible, specialist technical support as part of a technical team supporting all research and final year undergraduate activities conducted within the Department of Physics. Primarily servicing the needs of research, while supporting other areas of the Department as and when required, providing all stakeholders with an expert level of technical service and guidance.

Our Department of Physics is a thriving centre for research and education. Ranked 2nd in the UK by The Guardian University Guide 2023 and in the World Top 100 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2023, we are proud to deliver a teaching and learning experience for students which closely aligns with the research-intensive values and practices of the University. Feeling inspired? Visit our Physics webpages to learn more about our postgraduate and undergraduate programmes. Durham University is a top 100 world university. In the QS World University Rankings 2024, we were ranked 78th globally.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme